Korean American Coalition

Several Korean-American organizations have set up a system for exchanging and disseminating information in the event of civil unrest or other disasters. The information-relay network, established by member organizations of the Korean American Inter-Agency Council and Asian Pacific Americans for a New L.A., will facilitate information-sharing and help to dispel or verify rumors, said Robert Park, vice president of the Korean American Coalition.

Formerly known as the Korean BBQ Cook-Off, a Taste of Koreatown has turned into a multicultural event showcasing a gamut of the best restaurants in Koreatown. It's part of the Korean American Coalition's efforts to promote the cultural richness of Koreatown, and it includes BCD Tofu House, a chain known for its spice tofu stew; Mexican restaurant El Cholo; Hamji Park and its Korean-style pork ribs; Palsaik Samgyupsal, purveyor of pork belly barbecue; Greek favorite Papa Cristos; Korean barbecue icon Park's BBQ; and Seoul Sausage Co. Saturday's festival will also feature a beer garden with Firestone craft beers, soju cocktails, Kooksoondang makali (unfiltered soju)

A $1-million donation to an Asian-American and a minority service group will support job placement and community outreach programs to communities affected by the Los Angeles riots. The Los Angeles Urban League and the Korean American Coalition will share equally in the grant from the New York Life Foundation.

Defined by its neatly manicured cul-de-sacs and its precisely designed villages, Irvine can't quite seem to shake the stereotype that it is just another vanilla suburb. But beyond the ficus trees and cookie-cutter homes lies a community dotted with Buddhist temples, Korean churches, Chinese banks and Asian grocery stores. The city's Islamic center sits right next to the Chinese cultural center in a spotless office park.

In their first meeting with Mayor Tom Bradley since the riots, about 40 Korean-American community leaders Monday angrily criticized police for inadequately defending their businesses during the unrest, and demanded that liquor stores and swap meets be allowed to rebuild without too much hardship from a new law.

In the county with the nation's largest Korean American population, a unanimous Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to spend $160,000 to publish voter information booklets in Korean, beginning with the November election. "It's an excellent decision," said Stewart Kwoh, president of the Asian Pacific American Legal Center, which has long pushed the proposal, along with a coalition of community organizations.

Following a recent meeting of Korean-American groups from around the nation, the Los Angeles-based Korean American Coalition was chosen to coordinate the establishment of a national advocacy and civil-rights organization. The coalition will head the steering committee of the Korean American National Organizing Committee, which will lay the foundation for a permanent organization, said Jerry Yu, the coalition's executive director.

Formerly known as the Korean BBQ Cook-Off, a Taste of Koreatown has turned into a multicultural event showcasing a gamut of the best restaurants in Koreatown. It's part of the Korean American Coalition's efforts to promote the cultural richness of Koreatown, and it includes BCD Tofu House, a chain known for its spice tofu stew; Mexican restaurant El Cholo; Hamji Park and its Korean-style pork ribs; Palsaik Samgyupsal, purveyor of pork belly barbecue; Greek favorite Papa Cristos; Korean barbecue icon Park's BBQ; and Seoul Sausage Co. Saturday's festival will also feature a beer garden with Firestone craft beers, soju cocktails, Kooksoondang makali (unfiltered soju)

Korean American college students from throughout the country will come to Los Angeles this month to participate in corporate, political, legal and media internships sponsored by a local Korean community group. The Korean American Coalition, formed in 1983 to advocate a greater political voice for the ethnic group, has announced its 11th annual class of interns, mostly sophomores and juniors. The 14 students will begin work on June 26.

Defined by its neatly manicured cul-de-sacs and its precisely designed villages, Irvine can't quite seem to shake the stereotype that it is just another vanilla suburb. But beyond the ficus trees and cookie-cutter homes lies a community dotted with Buddhist temples, Korean churches, Chinese banks and Asian grocery stores. The city's Islamic center sits right next to the Chinese cultural center in a spotless office park.

After 15 years, she still hasn't forgotten. How could she? At the height of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, Lee Jung-Hui's only son, Edward, tried to protect Koreatown merchants and ended up dead after one of them mistook him for a looter and shot him. Still, Lee, 62, has managed to forgive and move forward. On Saturday, she and her husband, Young, joined about 350 Koreans, blacks, Latinos and others in a march for unity and peace to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the riots.

Jews and Koreans have been neighbors for nearly four decades in the area that has become Los Angeles' Koreatown, but for the first time, Asian immigrant leaders on Tuesday ventured inside the landmark Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Southern California's oldest Jewish congregation.

Korean American community leaders who met with a top official at the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles on Friday said they were disgusted by anti-Semitic depictions in a comic book by a popular South Korean author and vowed to mobilize community resources to launch a protest against the publisher. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Wiesenthal Center, met with the group and said he would visit Seoul on March 15 to raise concerns about the comic book.

Like many in Koreatown, Chang Ae Jung's first reaction was one of horror when she read about the father accused of killing his two young children by placing them in the family's sport utility vehicle and setting it on fire. "Even with everything going wrong," said Chang, 47, who has followed the story closely in the Korean media, "how could someone do something like this?"

Rain had knocked out power in the building where a Koreatown mayoral forum was to take place on a recent night. But that didn't stop organizers from quickly finding another location to proceed with the event, designed to get Korean Americans to cast ballots in the Los Angeles mayoral election Tuesday. Within 40 minutes, they had arranged for four mayoral candidates to participate in a live, bilingual broadcast inside the Radio Seoul studios in Hancock Park.

About 100 Korean Americans showed their support for U.S. troops by fastening yellow ribbons Friday to hundreds of trees along the streets of Koreatown. "We want to show our appreciation to our soldiers," said Charles J. Kim, executive director of the Korean American Coalition during a ceremony at the Koreatown Plaza on Western Avenue.

Responding to what they say are inadequate government efforts to assist Korean victims of the spring riots, several Korean-American organizations have established a group to document the victims' needs and coordinate relief assistance. The Korean American Inter-Agency Council will call about 2,000 Korean families or individuals identified by various agencies and organizations as riot victims, organizers said.

After two decades of pursuing the American dream in relative isolation, the recent riots and three-day siege of Koreatown have shattered the insularity of the Korean-American community and awakened it to the need for building political power. Although Korean-Americans have begun the rebuilding process, leaders, activists and merchants say they have learned that the community can no longer afford to work solely on building economic strength while ignoring the political context.

Call me naive, but I'm still waiting for one person to fess up. Just one guy to walk into a store and say, you know what? I looted this TV 10 years ago when the streets were wild, and I don't want my kids watching this stolen property one more night. Here's the money I owe you. No. I am not holding my breath. In coverage of the 10-year anniversary of the Rodney King verdict and the senseless destruction that followed, I've seen explanations and recollections. I've seen claims of progress and complaints about the lack thereof.

When South Korean politicians visit Los Angeles--the capital of Koreans in the United States--they routinely meet with first-generation immigrants at fancy restaurants and conduct their business as they would in Korea. "Like frogs in a well, they don't know how the outside world is going," said Howard Y. Ree, a Korean American banker who has lived in Los Angeles since the early 1960s. "Language [inability to speak English] really hampers them."